Silly problem (whoever solves it gets a prize!)

Tusky

Hi - Ive got a silly problem that is doing my head in. We have 3 or 4 laptops/desktops on a wireless connection in the house. The communal pc has been working fine wirelessly for the last few years but yestwerday it stopped connecting to the internet. The rest of the computers are connected fine.

On the Wireless Network Connection tab it says beside status - limited or no connectivity. The signal strength is good.

I have tried reseting the router, disconnecting and reconnecting from the connection, changing the USB port that the wireless adapater is connected to - all with no success.

Windows firewall is turned off and there isnt an additional firewall installed however, someone has said that a grey box popped up on the bottom right of the screen asking to allow or decline something called svhost access. That may not be the exact name. They clicked decline....I dont think this is anything important although I could be wrong.

The pc is running Windows XP. I'm sure I'm just missing something stupidly obivous.

Any ideas ?

Biggins

According to Microsoft: "svchost.exe is a generic host process name for services that run from dynamic-link libraries".

Some time ago, Microsoft started moving all of the functionality from internal Windows services into .dll files instead of .exe files. From a programming perspective this makes more sense for reusability… but the problem is that you can't launch a .dll file directly from Windows, it has to be loaded up from a running executable (.exe). Thus the svchost.exe process was born.

If your able to track its source and/or confirm with what application its connected with, I'd find a way to turn it back on and see if your connection improves again.

Mr. Presentable

Also try right click your connection and repair.

Tusky

Biggins wrote: »

According to Microsoft: "svchost.exe is a generic host process name for services that run from dynamic-link libraries".

Some time ago, Microsoft started moving all of the functionality from internal Windows services into .dll files instead of .exe files. From a programming perspective this makes more sense for reusability… but the problem is that you can't launch a .dll file directly from Windows, it has to be loaded up from a running executable (.exe). Thus the svchost.exe process was born.

If your able to track its source and/or confirm with what application its connected with, I'd find a way to turn it back on and see if your connection improves again.

I dont even know what firewall it was that blocked it. As I said, windows firewall is turned off and there isnt a 3rd party one installed. Is there another windows firewall that could be on ? Apperantly it was just a plain grey box with the name of the file and 'accept' or 'decline'. If I could find that firewall surely I could just edit the block list and remove svchost ?

I did a search for svchost and got a few results. Aim, windows\system32 and a few other windows files.

[edit] In task manager - processes, there is 2 svhost.exe running and it says 'Network Service' beside them. Could this possibly be the problem ?

Biggins

There is a small possibility that it was indeed a false/fake warning that by your pressing it, activated malware/spyware which subsequently did harm to your system.
You might consider running a virus check also.

Type "msconfig" in the Run box and see in the appearing utility if you can find any applications beginning from start-up that are unusual or suspicious too.

Tusky

Biggins wrote: »

There is a small possibility that it was indeed a false/fake warning that by your pressing it, activated malware/spyware which subsequently did harm to your system.
You might consider running a virus check also.

I dont think it was. I seem to remember the box popping up many times before but just thought nothing of it and usually clicked 'allow'. I regularly run anti-virus & spyware programs so the system is clean.

nipplenuts wrote: »

Also try right click your connection and repair.

Tried this already. I got this message Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Renewing your IP addresss.

Biggins

For something to make that box appear, there HAS to be an unknown (to you) application running in the background that your unaware of.

* Are you the only one that has access to that system?
* Is there a possibility that someone has installed something unknowing to you?

Definitely sounds like a third party application is interfering between your system and your modem or allowed something to so do.
a good start would be to find that third party application if it exists, perhaps hidden.

Tusky

Biggins wrote: »

For something to make that box appear, there HAS to be an unknown (to you) application running in the background that your unaware of.

* Are you the only one that has access to that system?
* Is there a possibility that someone has installed something unknowing to you?

Definitely sounds like a third party application is interfering between your system and your modem or allowed something to so do.
a good start would be to find that third party application if it exists, perhaps hidden.

If I took a screenshot of my processes tab and sent it to you, would you take a look ?

Gypo

Hi OP,

Could your Router config have changed lately?

It sounds like your DHCP server may not giving your PC a IP address any more. The wireless card having an address of 169.xx... would confim this.

Biggins

Tusky wrote: »

If I took a screenshot of my processes tab and sent it to you, would you take a look ?

Sure.

Tusky

Gypo wrote: »

Hi OP,

Could your Router config have changed lately?

It sounds like your DHCP server may not giving your PC a IP address any more. The wireless card having an address of 169.xx... would confim this.

The router may have been reset recently. How would I check the ip of the wireless card ?

Gypo

Type 'cmd' into the Run window, the run the command 'ipconfig'. You should be able to find your Wireless Card IP address in the command output.

pogcica

you could try system restore, to a date before the changes were made

ShaunC

pogcica wrote: »

you could try system restore, to a date before the changes were made

Thats what I do when all else fails.
P.S. do I get half the prize if it works:D

Tusky

Gypo wrote: »

Type 'cmd' into the Run window, the run the command 'ipconfig'. You should be able to find your Wireless Card IP address in the command output.

Connection-specific DNS Suffix is blank. The Ip address & Default gateway both begin with 169. Does this mean mean your initial suggestion was correct ? Any idea how to fix it ?

Ishmael

When you disconnected and reconnected, did you re-type the password or just connect with what was already there? might be worth a try to just make sure the password is correct.

Un-installing and re-installing the wireless card driver might be worth a try.

One other thing that it might be but i doubt it as you disabled the firewall already.

In the run command box, type firewall.cpl and check the exceptions tab. see if there is a tick mark beside the process name you mentioned. If not, put one there (might need a restart after this)


Edit: Just found this, maybe this explains why svchost is trying to access the internet

http://ask-leo.com/why_does_svchost_access_the_internet.html

Gypo

I'd start by double checking the config of the Router, do you know what make/model you have?

Normally configuring non-static DHCP is just a case of setting a IP address range and hitting the go button.

You mentioned that you recently reset the Router, did you do a hard reset i.e. reset the router to all its defaults? You would have needed to configure SSID, WPA etc. after. If the other laptops still able to connect to the net, it sounds like a hard reset wasn't done.

I guess one option would be to do a hard reset (normally you need to hold the reset button for a few seconds) and start the config of the Router over. I wouldn't recommend that though, until you have a look at the existing config to see if there is any noticeable problems.

One other (probably OTT ) option would be to get a sniffer trace with a program like Wireshark and see exactly what's happening on the wire, DHCP Discover, offer etc.

You could also just set a static IP on the PC as a work around until you get the DHCP issues sorted.

Hope that helps a little!

Tusky

Ishmael wrote: »

When you disconnected and reconnected, did you re-type the password or just connect with what was already there? might be worth a try to just make sure the password is correct.

I retyped the password.

Un-installing and re-installing the wireless card driver might be worth a try.

I dont think it has any drivers. I'll take a look.

One other thing that it might be but i doubt it as you disabled the firewall already.

In the run command box, type firewall.cpl and check the exceptions tab. see if there is a tick mark beside the process name you mentioned. If not, put one there (might need a restart after this)

Well seeing as svchost seems to be nothing important, I doubt this will help. Windows firewall is turned off anyway.

Edit: Just found this, maybe this explains why svchost is trying to access the internet

http://ask-leo.com/why_does_svchost_access_the_internet.html

So basically denying it access isnt the problem. At least thats one avenue sorted!

Tusky

Gypo wrote: »

I'd start by double checking the config of the Router, do you know what make/model you have?

Normally configuring non-static DHCP is just a case of setting a IP address range and hitting the go button.

Well I cant access the router config from my pc. Usually I do it by going to 192.168.1.1 but its giving me a 'page cannot be displayed' message. Would it work if it did it from another pc on the same connection ? What IP range would I put in ?

You mentioned that you recently reset the Router, did you do a hard reset i.e. reset the router to all its defaults? You would have needed to configure SSID, WPA etc. after. If the other laptops still able to connect to the net, it sounds like a hard reset wasn't done.

I guess one option would be to do a hard reset (normally you need to hold the reset button for a few seconds) and start the config of the Router over. I wouldn't recommend that though, until you have a look at the existing config to see if there is any noticeable problems.

Since Ive lost access to the internet Ive tried a hard reset. Beforehand I had only tried a soft reset. The other laptops were able to connect fine befor eand after both resets.

One other (probably OTT ) option would be to get a sniffer trace with a program like Wireshark and see exactly what's happening on the wire, DHCP Discover, offer etc.

I do not understand the above, haha!

You could also just set a static IP on the PC as a work around until you get the DHCP issues sorted.

How would I do that?

Thanks everyone for the help thus far, this is driving me crazy! I hate network problems!

Ishmael

Tusky wrote: »

Would it work if it did it from another pc on the same connection ? What IP range would I put in ?

If the others are connected to the internet, then putting in 192.168.1.1 should bring it up for you on one of the working PC's

Tusky

I used system restore and set the it back to Sundays settings. Its working fine now. Thanks to everyone for the help.

Heres your prize:



Yes, you are well within your rights to be annoyed at the prize. It is fairly crap!

Gypo

Ha ha, cheers! Wonder what the cause was though?

Glad you got it working anyway OP!

Hal1

The cake is a lie :pac:

BrokenArrows

glad to hear its working

I only had a quick glance through this thread but it looks like the cause was the svchost.

svchost is necessary for networking and internet access.

if you kill it or block it your internet will not work.

ShaunC

can you e-mail me my half of the cake:mad:

Paddyo

Pity I didnt see this earlier.

If this happens again search for winsockxpfix.exe on the internet. Download and run it.

It has solved problems for me many times where all looks to be setup ok but I still got Limited or no connectivity.

I would have liked some cake

Paddyo

the_syco

Run services.msc and start the Zero Wireless Configuration.